League of Legends, and LoL eSports more specifically, has been around for as long as anyone can remember. As with any sport, there is always the rise and fall of legendary players. Despite this, there are a few players that have been able to defy the norm. Players such as Doublelift and Faker have been around the scene for over 3 years whilst being acknowledged as some of the best players in their respective role/region. Of course, when discussing legendary/veteran players, you cannot forget about Rekkles.

Rekkles has been a professional player for over 6 years. He was at one point considered the best ADC in the West at a remarkably young age. Having earned 3 European Trophies and 3 MVP titles, Rekkles does not quit without achieving what he has set out to do.

Followed by his victory in EU Spring Split finals, Rekkles has decided to come to Korea in order to practice for the upcoming MSI. On the 20th of April, Inven Global was fortunate enough to grab an interview with the notorious AD Kennen player.

Let’s see what Rekkles says about Korean bootcamp, his love life, and his tattoos.

¤ Thank you for coming out to this interview. Could you first quickly introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m Martin Larsson, but most people know me as Rekkles. I am 21 years old, and I come from Sweden. I play AD Carry for Team Fnatic.

¤ You came alone and without your team to Korea for bootcamp. We are curious about why you decided to come alone and why you also decided to come practice in Korea?

I have pretty much been to every server in the world. Although I have not played on the tier 2 servers, I have played on pretty much every main server. This includes the Chinese All-Stars. After playing all these servers, I came to the conclusion that Korean server is the best server. It has always been a no-brainer for me to go to Korea if I had the chance in terms of practice. Coming alone this time was a little bit different. This is because usually, the team is down to go somewhere to practice before a big tournament. Since it is our first time making it to MSI, we weren’t really sure how to spend the time. A lot of my teammates felt like if they didn’t take a break now, they wouldn’t be able to do so until after Worlds. I know that burnout is a rising issue for a lot of players, other than myself. I ended up going by myself because I didn’t want to push my teammates into something they do not want to do. I already felt that my team was leaning towards the option of not going and meeting up earlier in Europe to practice against the playing teams.

¤ Looking back on the last year, were you satisfied with last year’s performance? If not, what has changed?

I think last year, we performed beyond our expectations. With everything that we went through during the spring split, I was very surprised that we even made it to Worlds in the first place. Once we got there, I was also really surprised at us making it all the way through the play-ins and making it through groups after being 0-4. On top of that, we kind of contested against RNG in the quarterfinals. I really tried to keep my flow up going into this year. We have also made a few changes. We brought in G2’s old coach and also changed our support for someone I wanted initially. Jesiz was always a good support, but I wanted to play with Hylissang. I always thought he was a really good support. I believe you can clearly see the kind of impact he had on me as a player. He really allowed me to do much more in the game. Overall, I think we kept working on what we were doing last year and brought in some pluses on the side.

¤ As a player qualified for MSI, you must have certain goals and expectations going into the event. What are some of your goals and expectations that are different from previous ones for past events?

Usually at Worlds, you want to aim for top 4. This is because, in the top 4, you’re most likely to go up against a Korean team. At this point, it is time to say goodbye (laughs). For MSI, it is a bit different. Firstly, I have never been to MSI. I don’t really know how easy it is going to be to get to the playoffs. If you look at the teams that are going, it should be a harder tournament than Worlds. In 2016, I didn’t even make it to Worlds and in 2017 I almost got knocked out of groups. I feel like it is really hard to set any expectations. I am just going to see on the day what kind of feeling I get from the other teams. Hopefully, we can make it to playoffs. I would love to play in Paris again. Every time I have been there, it has been an amazing experience. I don’t feel like I can put expectations on myself or my team because we will go up against giants like Kingzone, Liquid, and RNG. You already have 3 teams that are supposed to be even better than us. It is hard for me to put ourselves on a pedestal or anything. I believe that if we are able to contest against these teams, Worlds will be easier.

¤ Within the teams and players that qualified for MSI, which ADC or bot lane do you want to go up against?

I would like to play against PraY and GorillA again. I think at Worlds, my performance was very disappointing. Both times we played against them, I think we died 2v2 (laughs). I would like to see now if Hylissang and I can put up more of a fight in the laning phase. This is because last time, I felt like we were already losing the game through bot lane. If I see we have any chance against them, it will be easier at Worlds. As I said earlier, most teams will be worse than PraY and GorillA. Other than them, I think Doublelift will be really fun to play against as well. He always talks a lot and actually puts himself on a pedestal which I don’t want to do for myself. I would like to see if I can knock him off of there.

¤ In regards to bot lane only, would you favor EU or NA for this MSI?

I think for bot lane only, I would probably favor our bot lane. I believe our bot lane has a lot more impact in the games compared to Team Liquid’s bot lane. Team Liquid won most of their games through the other sides of the map, while we won mostly off the bot lane pressure. For the whole team, I think it is hard to tell. Team Liquid looked really good at the end of their run at the playoffs. It just comes down to what form you enter the tournament with. For both regions, it was on patch 8.5 instead of 8.8, which is a huge difference. It may even be patch 8.9 for MSI. I just feel like it will be a completely different game once we get into MSI. Now, there is a champion like Kai’Sa who completely changes the bot lane. She takes over the game at one point. If we are able to adjust well within these two weeks, we should be okay.

¤ On the topic of Kai’Sa, we want to hear your thoughts on her. Secondly, we want to know if you are planning to use her at MSI. Lastly, you are famous for bringing out ADC Kennen. Is there any chance you might play Kennen as ADC at MSI?

I was actually thinking about practicing AD Kennen yesterday once 8.9 hits. There are some changes to Kennen that are actually pushing him more into the AD territory. When they nerfed him for Rift Rivals last year, I thought that he became a bit unplayable. Kennen didn’t really fit the AD carry role anymore. Since Riot is pushing him back into that state, I will definitely give him a try. By any means, if he feels even 50% [as strong as] last year, I will most definitely play him because I dominated nearly every game that I played Kennen. I would really love for him to come back. It is a nice pocket pick to have, especially against compositions where the enemy is running a lot of assassins or early game power. Kennen just neutralizes the whole game and puts your team in a really good position.

As for Kai’Sa, I think she is a really OP champion. Even though her laning phase is not that great, she still has a lot of play making potential. If your support lands CC on the enemy and you have already landed your W, you can already one shot people lv 2. She just has a lot of power that other AD carries don’t have. Once she gets to the later stages, Kai’Sa is pretty much unkillable because she can always jump around. On top of this, Kai’Sa can almost always go for the enemy’s priority target. Something that no other AD carry can do. Maybe Tristana? But with Tristana, you can see it coming. You can always avoid it. With Kai’Sa, she flies by you in 0.1 seconds and you’re already dead. Kai’Sa will have a lot of priority at MSI. I know if I don’t play her, we are really going to struggle as a team. Because of this, I have tried to really pick her up during this Korean bootcamp. Unfortunately, every game she is perma banned. The only games I have with her I lost (laughs).

¤ Moving onto fun and interactive acitivities, what we are going to do now is give you a list of ADCs who made it to semis in NA, EU, LPL, and LCK. Could you rank these players from best to worst?

Rekkles: I haven’t played against everyone here, but I have definitely seen them play.

Rekkles: Uzi is for sure the best.

Rekkles: HMMM… I am trying to decide between the Chinese and Koreans.

Rekkles: I think JackeyLove should be fourth.

Rekkles: Now some Koreans.

Rekkles: I think iBoy is not that great. I have played against him a lot in soloq, and I don’t think he is that good.

▲ Rekkles deciding on how to rank the AD players.*Puts Uzi and PraY first as 1st and 2nd*

▲ Complete tier list

¤ No NA players at the top rank?

Rekkles: Oh.. no no.

Rekkles: Yeah, I feel pretty happy with this.

¤ We see you ranked Uzi as #1.

Yeah but he should really be like this (Increase gap between 1st and 2nd place).

¤ Why is Uzi so far above everyone else in your opinion?

I try to judge with only my experience playing with these players. Some of them were hard to rank because I haven’t played against people like JackeyLove, Kramer, and iBoy. But, I have seen most of them play. Even though someone like JackeyLove is new, I can already see what can kind of player they are. With that in mind, I have always thought that Uzi is an outstanding player. He has always been a level above everyone else. When it comes to what Uzi brings to his team, there can obviously be some communication errors within the team. Players like PraY with the experience he has, shot calls a lot for his team and makes a significant amount of drafting decisions. This could bring more wins for the team compared to the amount that Uzi could bring. I cannot judge that because I don’t know how their communication goes. I can only judge by how players play. I think Uzi is just so much more better than everyone else. He performs really really well. I have barely seen the guy make mistakes. Uzi should just be straight up first.

I was going to put both Chinese players above PraY, but I think PraY is really good as well. I guess you can call Uzi tier 1 AD carry and everyone else just tier 2. I’m not sure really what order I should put the tier 2 ADs. Just because players like JackeyLove are new players, they might not be able to cope with the pressure on the big stage. Maybe they will not be able to keep up with the experience level [of players] such as Deft or Bang. In this aspect, Deft and Bang should be above. However in regards to raw play making, they look better this season than Deft, Kramer, and Bang.

The rest are just… I don’t really care about the order. But, I think Doublelift should be a bit above the tier 3 ADs. Cody Sun… erm…. He didn’t look that great.

¤ Now here is your name. Where do you think you belong in all this?

I think I should be somewhere with these four.

¤ You ranked 4 players above yourself. Do you think you are being too respectful or humble?

I always try to judge by how much they impact the game. Even though I always have good numbers, it does not necessarily mean I impact the game a lot. For example, I always see these Chinese players have a lot of impact. Regardless of what they are playing, I feel like they always make a difference in the game. I believe PraY goes into that category. Meanwhile with someone like Bang, Kramer, and even Deft, in these past one and a half seasons, they have not impacted the game as much. For instance, if something goes wrong top side, these guys always end up losing. I don’t feel like this is the case with the Chinese AD carries. This is because even if they are behind, they can step up and carry.

I would put myself somewhere in the middle because I think I have had clear games this season. I have done what the Chinese AD carries do and just carried games. I can still contest against these AD carries (points at the tier 1 ADCs) and do well against these guys (points at the tier 2 ADCs) on a bad day.

The goal is always to be here (puts his name right below Uzi). This is because being right here (above Uzi) is impossible.

After watching RNG vs IG and EDG vs RW for the LPL Semifinals, I feel like Uzi, Jackeylove, and iBoy proved their worth and current ranking. However, I believe I was wrong about Smlz (didn't watch any RW games other than the Quarterfinals were he looked brilliant). He got outperformed by iBoy 3/4 games during their series and therefore should be placed below. I don't think he flopped, but I just think he needs more time to become a complete player.

¤ You are an icon who represents a successful and talented player from Europe. Do you see yourself staying in the EU for the rest of your career or do you think you could play for a team elsewhere if the opportunity arises?

For the future, I don’t really know. Now that I have signed a 3-year contract, it is going to be a bit different. By the time I've been in Europe for 3 years - unless someone buys me out of a contract - I think I will be a very different person when it is all done. For example, I know exactly how much I have changed from season 4 to season 7. Hence, I wouldn’t be surprised at how much I change from season 8 to season 10 as well. It is really hard to say where I will be in terms of my mindset after my contract is done.

Before I signed this contract, I was really looking to play in Chinese and Korean teams. But I felt like it was almost disrespectful to ask Korean teams. I didn’t really think I deserved a place in the top teams in Korea. This meant that I would have to look into Challenger Korean teams or lower tier Korean teams. Then I started to think that it might not be worth it anymore. Although I will learn a lot in Korea, including its culture, I feel like I wouldn’t make it to Worlds. It is already hard for teams like kt to make it to Worlds. If I played in a lower tier team, I don’t think I could make it to Worlds by any means. Therefore, I felt like it was just better to stay in Europe or more specifically in Fnatic. This will give me the opportunity to make it to Worlds. Since I get to go against some of the best players in the Worlds, I will also inevitably gain more experience.

Korea was really not an option for me unless really good teams like SKT or KZ reached out to me. But, I know how crazy that sounds right? I just always thought that there really was no way of getting into a Korean team. I was looking at the Chinese teams last year, and I reached out to EDG, WE, IG, and another team. I told them that I was really interested in playing in China after playing at Worlds. I said that I was fully willing to learn the language and put in the hours. I don’t know how much hours they demand their players to play, but I already play League from the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep. If they asked me to cut back on my sleep, I can cut my sleep back. That’s fine. So, I was willing to do pretty much whatever. However, no one really picked up on it. The only team that even considered it was World Elite, but they already have Mystic. It is completely understandably they don’t want me either.

After no Chinese or Korean teams said anything, I felt like it could be cool to move to NA and play for TSM. There are no other teams except TSM that would allow me to go upwards in my career. I feel like the others teams would be a side step or a step below for me. This already happened to me once when I moved to Elements back in 2015. I didn’t want to make that mistake again. I either wanted to stay in the team that I already am in now or move upwards. For me, TSM is the only team in the Western region that I could move upwards in. Everything else is below Fnatic. Once TSM said they wanted Zven and Mithy, I felt like it was pretty nice for me to stay in Fnatic.

Since I already had a good team, I could bring in Joey and swap my support as well. I just signed a longer contract because of the franchise. I was going to sign 2 years no matter what because I wanted to see the franchise. There is this big thing in NA right now with the whole franchising, money, and professionalism they have. I feel like Europe already stepped up this year, so it would be really interesting to see what they can do with the franchise in 2019. Fnatic gave me a really good deal for 3 years. I decided to sign 3 because might as well right? Afterwards, we would just have to see where I go.

For me, my dream team has always been a Korean team. The Chinese teams were only to experience the culture. If I were to go to a Korean team, it would be more to stay I think. I mean, I think I would want to stay in China as well. But I just feel like, it would be harder for me compared to Korea. China is still an unexplored territory for me. I still have only been there once and what I saw then was probably the best of the best. Since it was Worlds and everyone was hyped up for Worlds. What I have seen in Korea is that everyone is very professional. I think I will fit in really well here if I learned the language. That’s the hardest part.

¤ We can see from your responses that you are incredibly determined to better yourself as a player. You have been a professional player for so long now. How do you keep that drive going?

I never really planned on becoming a professional player. It kind of just happened randomly. After my knee injury from football, I just had so much time to play games. Once I fully recovered, I was already a professional player. It was not like I planned on becoming a professional player. But once I felt like it was fun being a professional player because I traveled around the world a lot, met new people, and was acknowledged for something I am good at, it was really the best of everything.

I couldn’t really complain about anything other than maybe having to give up some life experiences. For example, I had to move away from my family at an early age, I don’t have the possibility of having a girlfriend, and I don’t live a typical 21-year-old life where I go out to constantly drink. I am more in the zone in order to work as hard as I can to become even better at what I am doing. This is probably the trade off. When you stand up on a stage like the finals we just had in Copenhagen when everyone is cheering for you, you get this chill that runs through your entire body. I think it is worth it to give up all the things I mentioned for that. I have always thought that I am apart of something that cannot be replaced. I decided I should make it the best it can be for as long as I can. I have not had any second thoughts on doing something else or second thoughts on not working as hard. If I ever do get these moments, I remember the feeling I get when I am on the stage. It is just super worth it.

¤ Since you said you had a lot on your mind, this is a brain map. Here you have spaces to fill and represent what you value and think about the most.

Rekkles: Okay League first.

Rekkles: Speedruns should be one.

Rekkles: I watch a lot of speedruns for a lot of my childhood games. I used to play a lot of console games. This used to be pretty much my entire childhood. I used to play Nintendo 64, GameCube, Nintendo Wii, and my favorite game was Legend of Zelda. I bought all of the versions for each platform. These days there are people called speedrunners who play these games as fast as possible and have world records. I always watch their streams on a daily basis. I am even a fanboy of some of them so (laughs).

▲ Rekkles' completed Brain Map

¤ Have you ever tried your own attempt at a speedrun?

I actually wanted to do it the next time I went home because I saw someone else speedrun a game called Banjo Kazooie. It is a Nintendo 64 game, and I used to be really good at this game. Hence, I wanted to try and see if I could speedrun it as well as a streamer does. It looks easy right? But I am pretty sure once I try it and I make one mistake, the whole run is dead. I would probably have to practice a lot for that. But, speedruning is something I follow and enjoy doing as well. For example when it is 10 o’clock, I know a specific streamer comes on. So, I just wait for him to start his stream. I am actually a big fanboy (laughs).

Rekkles: I also like Netflix. I watch a lot of shows during queue time.

¤ What are your top 3 favorite tv shows on Netflix?

Hmm.. I know Game of Thrones is not on Netflix, so I can’t say that. Prison Break is probably one. I think Prison Break is completely insane. Breaking Bad was really good too. Oh and Friends. Friends is really funny.

Rekkles: What else can I do… oh, I can have this small section for fapping. Just guy things.

Rekkles: And girls should be one big one.

Rekkles: The rest would be gym, food, and I think sleep. My life is pretty boring so… I think this is pretty much it.

¤ Going into the category of girls. Are there any girls that you are currently interested in?

Not really, no. In the beginning of my career, I was really down for the idea of having a girlfriend while playing. I tried having a girlfriend in the start of season 2, and it was hell (laughs). Ever since that, I have just decided that it is not going to be a thing for me. For 6 years now, I have completely disregarded the idea of having a girlfriend.

¤ Oh so why did you give such a big section for girls if you cannot have a girlfriend?

Uh… They are still, like, nice...girls (laughs). It is just that I can’t go the last mile you know? I can’t actually spend time talking with them, playing with them, or hanging out with them. I can just do all the fun stuff more. Once it gets to a certain point, I just have to say no. Then, it is all okay.

¤ Last question regarding the girl section. Is there a type of girl you prefe-

Asians.

¤ All Asians or more specific?

I don’t know all the areas for Asia but for China it was really nice. Korea was nice. Singapore was nice. I think everyone is just nice. I believe this is because when I was growing up, I was so used to blonde hair blue eyes. So as soon as I see someone who is not blonde hair blue eyes, I kind of already react. I get the feeling that the person is really special. I think I am just spoiled by all the fun from Sweden (laughs).

¤ We see that you put gym in your brain map. Do you go to the gym everyday? Or is it a once in a while kind of thing?

Well for this year, the gym has been every once in a while. I always go on game days. This has been my routine for game days in order to get my blood flow going. Otherwise at times, I feel like I am not playing well. I don’t know… It is kind of weird. I just feel like I play better after I go to the gym because I don’t have cold hands and I am not shaky. I get very sure about my ‘thing’ if that makes sense. I have been slacking on other days. I go to the gym now 2 or 3 times max. Meanwhile last year, it was 7 days a week. I am looking for summer to go back to last year’s routine. I have had some days in scrims for the spring split where I didn’t play that well because I didn’t hit the gym. Since I didn’t keep my food schedule healthy either, I felt sleepy or hungry during scrims.

When I go back in the summer, I am going to hit the gym every day. Simply because this makes me a better player. If I am a better player, we have a better team. If we have a better team, we make it to Worlds so. I will go to the gym (laughs).

¤ Sleep has always been an issue for gamers. It is difficult to maximize the amount you play in relation to the amount you sleep. Do you think you get a healthy amount of sleep? Or do you think you don’t get enough because you put sleep in such a small section?

I feel like it is just because I have figured out what I need to do to sleep well. In the beginning, I thought it was all about sleeping as much as possible. With time, I realized that I feel the best when I sleep the same hours. It doesn’t have to be like 8 or 9 hours a day. It just has to be between the same hours. For example, I go to sleep at 6am here because I want to keep a European schedule. This means I should go to sleep at 6am everyday. Otherwise, my body would not sleep as well just because it will think it is not the right time to sleep. My body will try to wake up every time. I would get too tired or not be tired at all when I go to bed. So what I figured out is that I need to go to sleep every day at the same time and wake up at the same time. This way, my body will always feel like it is rested.

¤ Is there a secret to managing sleep when it comes to different time zones? As a professional player, it must be hard keeping a healthy schedule when traveling the world.

What I do is I check the next big event I have coming up and what time in the day it is. For example, we are going to play at MSI which is a very early time in Europe. I always try to put my sleeping schedule around professional games. For instance, if I am playing really early in the morning, I should wake up early every day. I go to bed at 6am here which is 11pm in Europe. I wake up at 2-3pm which is 7-8 am in Europe I believe. I always think beforehand. I force my body to adjust. Eventually, my body picks up on it and changes. After that, it's all fine.

¤ Quickly going over the food section, what are your favorite things to eat?

Chicken and rice. I like meat as well. Not necessarily a specific type of meat, but every kind of meat. Meat and potatoes is really nice as well… with maybe some brown sauce. My Swedish favorite is probably tacos, but it isn’t really Swedish (laughs). We always eat tacos there on Fridays. In regards to my professional career, I always try to eat healthy [meals] such as chicken and rice. We have a chef in Berlin, so it has always been easy to eat whatever he makes. When I go traveling, it becomes a bit harder.

I always try to eat healthy because at the beginning of my career I always ordered food. I would have a lot of days when I felt like s*** because they food I got was s***. There were days where I would feel really good for 5 minutes but then I realized I just ate pizza. I didn’t feel too great for the next 2 hours (laughs). I really tried to adjust what I eat. Just how I said that the gym makes me a better player, so does food. This is why I put food, gym, and sleep. Even though these are very basic things, it actually defines how your day is going to be. If your day is good, you play better.

▲ Rekkles feeling content with his Brain Map

¤ The last activity we are going to do is a lie detector game. Have you ever tried this?

Rekkles: No, never (laughs).

¤ First question: In terms of looks, do you think you are the best-looking player in professional League of Legends?

Rekkles: No.

*Dramatic music from device*

*Ding! Ding!*

Rekkles: Does that mean good?

Yes. If it buzzes and shocks you, it means you lied.

Rekkles: Oh, okay.

¤ So who do you think is better looking than you?

Rekkles: I think all Asians are, but I think this is the same problem I told you before. I am so used to the European look, so I don’t think I am that special. I know a lot of people who look similar to me or even look better than me. As soon as I see an Asian person, I feel like they are so handsome. They don’t even need to try. They don’t need to do their hair or makeup. Asians just look good naturally.

¤ Could you name a specific player that you think is extremely good looking?

Hmm… maybe I’ll choose a Korean player. What about Peanut? He is pretty cute...he is pretty nice (laughs). Smeb is also pretty handsome. There are just so many players that are handsome. I’ll probably choose Peanut. OH WAIT… the most handsome Korean player is Wraith. I almost forgot.

¤ Next question: Have you ever dated an Asian?

Rekkles: Yes.

*Dramatic music from device*

*Ding! Ding!*

There are a lot of Asians in Europe. I have some girls there.

¤ Next question: Have you ever dated someone in Korea?

Rekkles: Yeah, I have.

*Dramatic music from device*

*Ding! Ding!*

This is not going as planned (laughs).

¤ Next question: As a League player watching someone else play another role horribly, we always think to ourselves ‘I could do better’. Have you ever thought this?

Rekkles: Yeah, of course. If I had 5 Rekkles’, I would have won already. It is a shame that cloning is not a thing yet.

*Dramatic music from device*

*Ding! Ding!*

Rekkles: I mean if I was playing AD and support together, my bot lane would be insane (laughs).

You are so honest that the results were not as we expected.

Rekkles: I have nothing to hide.

Rekkles: I should lie. I want to get buzzed (laughs).

¤ Oh okay. I’ll ask a question and you have to lie in order to get buzzed. Are you a male?

Rekkles: Yes… wait I mean no. I have something else down there (laughs).

*Dramatic music from device*

Rekkles: Please… don’t say yes now.

*Ding! Ding!*

Rekkles: Oh god damn it (laughs).

¤ I think it is a good time to move on to some other questions. We saw you have a couple tattoos. Do you mind sharing what the meaning behind each tattoo is?

Yeah, sure. I can even show it to you. First of all, I have a dragon and a fish. This is from a Chinese legend. It is about a koi fish that is fighting to get up a waterfall for a 100 years. When it eventually succeeds, it transitions into a dragon. For me, the fish stands for hard work and fighting through my own eyes. For example, I should not be doing what everyone else is doing. The dragon stands for success. For instance, as long as I work really hard, I will become very successful. This split is a clear example where I worked really hard and played probably the most out of every pro. This eventually lead to a trophy. It is not done yet because my mom started to flip out when she figured out I was getting tattoos (laughs).

One of my ideas was to get a seperated Yin Yang. One part on my left arm and the other on the right. This is to show that I cannot be successful without hard work, and I cannot be hard working if there is nothing to be successful for. Everything is connected. This here (points to left arm) is family. It originally means Carl Martin Erik Larsson. This is my child name and my personal life. Rekkles is obviously my professional life and what I have become. Here again, it is the same idea. The left side is the hard-working side of me which most people don’t see. However, hard work has made me who I am (points to the ‘Rekkles’ tattoo on the right). Now most people see this (points to ‘Rekkles’ tattoo). The player that has everything served on a silver platter which is not true. I have worked extremely hard for what I have now.

I also wanted to get stars on my knuckles. One for each trophy. I want 3 stars for my European trophies and 3 stars for my European MVPs. Every time I get a new title, I will add one more star. Maybe I will also get dates for when I was born, 1996, and when I started playing League, 2010. This is because that year was the year of change for me. It was the year when I lost a lot but also gained a lot. I want these dates to remind me when I go through hard times. I might go through difficult times, but I would know that after a month or two it will be alright.

¤ From what we have seen from your responses from the tattoo question and the interview as a whole, you seem to have an incredible depth in your train of thought. Do you agree that you are a very comprehensive person?

Yeah. I always try to think 2 or 3 times before doing something. I don’t say or do things without thinking. I always think I ponder too much (laughs). I would do things that sometimes are already too late. This is why I was so conservative in the beginning of my career. Maybe even ‘passive’ if people believe that is a better word. I was always waiting too long to jump into teamfights. I would always think too much in a situation. Whether I should go now or a second later or 2 seconds. By the time I am thinking about this, it is already too late. The opportunity was already lost.

I felt like I really had to push who I was as a person aside in order to become a better AD carry. This was extremely hard, and it took a lot of time. This is because it is hard to change who you are as a person but easier to change who you are as a player.

¤ Lastly, is there anything you want to say to your fans or anyone who may read this interview?

Hmm….Thank you for reading and being with us (laughs). I guess I’ll see everyone at MSI. I hope I can see some of my fans in Berlin or maybe even Paris. That’d be fun. If we make it all the way to Paris, that would be cool. Otherwise, I want to thank everyone who has been supporting us through this split. I also want to thank all the Korean fans for liking me as well. It is pretty cool (laughs).